[Frequent reference is made in these pages to Plautus and Terence, as illustrating the New Comedy. The justification of such reference was to have been dealt with in an Excursus. The author was of opinion that the Latin comedians might be cited to illustrate plot and subject, though we could not be certain that the actual words or expressions in any given passage were due to Greek originals.]
[329] That there was no romantic element in Greek tragedy has already been shown at length. [See above, [pp. 37-67].]
[330] The claims of Diphilus need not be considered. His leanings towards Middle Comedy are generally admitted; in his fragments there is no suggestion of any romantic treatment of women. In fact, the only real reason for assigning him to New Comedy at all is, perhaps, the story of the Rudens, which, Arcturus states in the Prologue, is derived from this writer. Of the Casina we shall speak elsewhere. [See page 165, [note 2].]
[331] Poeta fuit hic Philemon, mediae comoediae scriptor; fabulas cum Menandro in scenam dictavit, certavitque cum eo, fortasse impar, certe aemulus. namque eum etiam vicisse saepenumero, pudet dicere. reperias tamen apud ipsum multos sales, argumenta lepide inflexa, agnatos lucide explicatos, personas rebus competentes, sententias vitae congruentes, ioca non infra soccum, seria non usque ad cothurnum. rarae apud illum corruptelae, et, uti errores, concessi amores. nec eo minus et leno periurus et amator fervidus et servulus callidus et amica illudens et uxor inhibens et mater indulgens et patruus obiurgator et sodalis opitulator et miles proeliator; sed et parasiti edaces et parentes tenaces et meretrices procaces. Apul. Flor. 16.
[332] A curious instance of this feeling is his often-expressed opinion that animals are happier than men. Cp. Incert. 3, 4, 8, etc.
[333] Cp. inter alia Apul. Flor. 16.
[334] Among many expressions to this effect, we need only mention that of Quintilian: atque ille quidem (sc. Menander) omnibus eiusdem operis auctoribus abstulit nomen et fulgore quodam suae claritatis tenebras obduxit. Inst. x. 1, 72.
[335] To take an instance from modern times. M. Daudet is said to have written his Sappho with the expressed object of showing that he, too, could produce a work which could not be left lying about. Similarly, M. Zola may be imagined to have produced La Rêve, in order to prove that even he could be decent if he tried. But any attempt to judge of the general character of these authors by the two books mentioned would be obviously futile. In like manner, in the case of Philemon, one has to consider how much of the romantic element in his comedies is due to conviction, and how much to a desire to show that romantic love-stories were a game two could play at.
[336] Platon. de Com. p. 30. ad fin. The passage distinctly suggests that these ninety-seven plays were not all that Philemon actually wrote. σώζεται δὲ αὐτοῦ (Φιλήμονος) δράματα ἑπτὰ πρὸς ἐνενήκοντα. Μένανδρος ... γέγραφε δὲ πάντα δράματα ρη΄.
The view that the total number of his plays was greater than ninety-seven seems to acquire further probability from the fact that he lived well-nigh twice as long as Menander, and continued to write up to the day of his death. Cp. Apul. Flor. 16.—It need hardly be remarked that if plays of Philemon were already lost in the time of Platonius, such plays were, in all probability, Middle rather than New Comedies.